What's up with your hair?
by chaseroftheyear
Summary: They're already dating, but what happens when James tries to protect Lily a little bit too much? A quick, 7th year Jily fic. Possible fluff warning.


Author's note: I own none of these characters, all rights go to J.K. Rowling.

"I can not believe you didn't tell me about this! Seriously, James, it's not as if I'm a bloody mind reader!"

Lily was furious, absolutely beyond reasoning, and James knew it. He also knew that he that what he did was wrong and withholding information from Lily usually led to this. It had slipped out when he, Lily, and the boys had been doing some late night studying in their room, only realizing what he'd said when the Head Students common room had become silent. Once Lily had started to argue with James about it, the three marauders left, leaving the couple to deal with their problems alone.

"Well it's not like I lied to you. I just took out some bits here and there," James responded to the red-head standing a few feet away, realizing that what he'd said was not going to help his case one bit.

Since the argument had started, Lily'd slipped her wand out from beneath her cloak, making James slightly unsteady. He knew she wouldn't hurt him, but his girlfriend was deadly when she wanted to be.

He took a deep breath, trying to clear mind. He hated himself for not telling Lily the full extent of his and Severus Snape's little confrontation the other day. James knew she would've been fine knowing what Severus had actually said about her, but he could tell it always hurt her more than if anyone else called her a 'mudblood' and that she wasn't in her rights to be practicing magic.

"Look," James started calmly, "I'm sorry. Okay? I'm sorry for being a prat who thinks he has to 'protect' his girlfriend when she is perfectly capable taking care of herself. I'm sorry I didn't tell you what that prick said. I thought you'd be better off without having to deal with that while stressing about tests and your sister and what you're going to do after school, all while dealing with a crazy psychopath trying to carry out a genocide of muggleborns, and who personally hates you, because god forbid people actually stand up for themselves and - "

Lily had cut James off mid-sentence as she ran into his body, collapsing into a pile of sobs. He instantly wrapped his arms around her body, not wanting her to feel alone. After a few minutes, her crying softened, leaving the two standing quietly in the middle of their common room.

"Lils?" James asked quietly.

"Mhmm," Lily mumbled against James' shoulders.

He ran his hands down her back, letting his fingers trail down her spine, "Wanna go to bed?"

Lily slowly nodded her head, James feeling the slight movement against his body. Carefully, he knelt down and looped his arm under Lily's knee, picking her up. She rested her forehead on his neck, already starting to fall asleep.

James carried her up the stairs to his bedroom, knowing she liked sleeping in his bed more than her own. Gently, he laid Lily down onto the mattress, taking her shoes off, and helping her into one of his shirts. Once James had tucked Lily in, he quickly changed into his own pajamas.

Thinking she was already fast asleep, James tried as carefully as he could to get into bed without moving her around too much. However, he was wrong. "James, it's okay just come into bed," Lily whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

James slid into bed, moving close enough to Lily to make out the many emotions running through her eyes as they looking into James'. "I'm sorry we fought," he said.

Lily lifted a hand to James' cheek, her fingers brushing lightly over his skin. Silence drew on as she looked at him, the moonlight coming in from the window next to his bed dancing around them. "I love you, James, you know that right?"

He laughed silently, "Yeah, I do. I love you, too, Lily."

"Don't lie for me anymore, okay? Like you said, I can handle it."

"Yeah, alright," James said. "Come on, get some sleep. I know you're tired."

Taking one last look, Lily smiled, "Goodnight," and closed her eyes, snuggling into James' chest. Within minutes, the two fell fast asleep, their breaths becoming one.

The next morning, James woke promptly at 5am as he did everyday to go running. He tried to get out of bed without waking up Lily, but failed to do so.

"Come back to bed," Lily murmured into her pillow, reaching out towards James' body sitting at the edge of the bed.

He looked over to her laying in his bed peacefully, wanting to always remember this image. "I've got to go for my jog," he smiled. "It's not good for the captain to be caught slacking."

Taking a deep breath, Lily raised her body to match James'. "But you don't even have a match for weeks, can't you take one day off?"

"I'm already up, might as well go. Sorry, Lils," he apologized.

Noticing how the light was starting to hit Lily's hair, James had to stop himself from looking directly into Lily's eyes. However, Lily immediately knew something was up. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Thinking about what she had said last night, he thought it was definitely better to tell her the truth. "What's up with your hair?"

"What do you mean what's wrong with my - " Lily had turned her head in the direction of James' mirror, instantly seeing what he meant. "What the hell?" All around her head, strands of Lily's red hair were sticking up like crazy, creating what looked like an actual bird's nest.

"I think it suites you," James said without a hint of sarcasm.

Lily edged closer to James, kissing him on the cheek, "Go on, go for your run," rolling her eyes at her boyfriend.

James kissed her lips once and stood up from the bed. He changed into a pair of shirts and a thin t-shirt, lifting an eyebrow towards where Lily watched from the bed suspiciously.

She shook her head, "You know you love it, James."

"I live to entertain, my dear." And with that, he left his bedroom, not being able to take his mind off of the love of his life once while he jogged.

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